Normally, we don't create pages like this. But in this case, I think it makes a lot of sense. It certainly would not be easy to find any 'R' related tips on vim.org without a collection page of some sort.

This leads to an interesting problem though. I'm sure there are a lot of scripts on vim.org that are hard to find without a category of some sort. Perhaps the wiki is a good place to categorize scripts? We now have the script comment pages, perhaps the best way to collect scripts into categories is by using wiki categories on the script comment pages? Or maybe we should create "script category" pages, like this one, similar to the "List of {whatever}" pages that wikipedia has, and link both the script on vim.org and the comment page here on the wiki.

I've given things a little thought. I really like the idea of a "Lists of scripts" category, with this moved to Script:List of R Project scripts. I think it make sense to also categorize the script pages themselves. ftplugin, plugin, syntax, etc. would make good categories, as well as "R Project". I wonder if there is a way to limit these categories to scripts, or if we may have collisions with categories used for tips? I'm thinking in particular about Category:Automated Text Insertion. Or would this get too confusing/make too much overlap with the "list of" pages? The "list of" pages could also appear in appropriate categories. Maybe it's time to take it to a mailing list for input from the community? --Fritzophrenic 00:49, March 6, 2010 (UTC)

I believe categories are global across all namespaces, so the only way to limit a category would be to give it an obvious name like Category:Scripts syntax or whatever. However, I cannot see the point because I have found it very hard to apply useful categories to many tips (except for easy ones like Searching and Folding), and I do not see how it would help to have a category of, say, ftplugin scripts. I think a more achievable approach would be to have a list of all scripts (Script:List of all scripts) with the text from the ScriptComments template shown (one line per script, similar to Vim Tips Wiki:Imported tips, but only the script number and brief description, not author). I could use a script to build that page and update it each month. When we get more than a few hundred in the list, we could revisit the idea of applying categories, if any useful pattern can be discerned. By all means try the mailing list, but I think we are going to have to decide ourselves because the only people likely to have useful thoughts are those who will notice this discussion anyway. In a few days I will move this page (I suppose I'd better keep a redirect), and will see how my thought above ("rework Vim scripts") looks. JohnBeckett 23:25, March 6, 2010 (UTC)

I was thinking that ftplugin, plugin, etc. might be good categories, because I understand that this information is lacking from many of the scripts on vim.org; it is just assumed that people will know what to do with them or how to install them. I can see how creating useful categories like "snippets plugins" might be beyond our grasp at the moment, but I think that a basic installation aid like putting script pages in a category that indicates what type of plugin they are, with information in the category description on how to install plugins of this type, would be fairly easy and would fit in well with the current purpose of the Script: pages. With the "list of" pages I guess that more meaningful categories would be fairly redundant and less powerful. With "list of" pages, we can add brief descriptions of each script, and a link to the script itself and the comments, rather than just a link to the wiki page. We could also mark scripts as unmaintained, or add scripts with no corresponding wiki page, much easier. --Fritzophrenic 14:59, March 8, 2010 (UTC)

I don't spend much time looking at vim.org/scripts, but I could well believe that many descriptions do not provide the user with much installation assistance. However, I think using a category here would be too subtle to be of much help. It might be better to just put an "Overview" section at the top of each script wiki page (or perhaps just those that need it): that section could say "Script type: ftplugin" with a link to some page on the implications, and other stuff like if the script is actively maintained. Re a list of all scripts (that is, all scripts with a comments page on this wiki): I was hoping to automate the process so a bot could just grab the information from Template:ScriptComments. It might be too hard (with too little benefit) to maintain a list including customised text. Also, once the list gets long, it would be better to keep it simple with just one wiki link per item (and no external link which would add at least 140 bytes per item, given the strange Special:Outbound URL format). JohnBeckett 02:17, March 9, 2010 (UTC)

A way to easily create "List of X" pages in a wiki is to link from those pages to page X and then use the backlinks/linked from/... page for X. Anyway, on the long run I think thus filetype-specific pages could not only include references to related scripts but also sample configurations/tips, which is why I personally would prefer individually maintained pages about how to best use vim for editing files of a certain filetype ... BTW this is why I initially called this page "Working with ..." (maybe "How to work ..." would have been better?) --annonymous, presumably tip author

I guess I don't understand the advantage of the "list of all scripts" page over a category or even the special "list all" page that you've linked a few times. At the very least I'd like to see category headings as done on this page. I wouldn't mind the "script type" addition to the template, that's a good way to do it. The description of each plugin type and generic install instructions for that plugin type could even be a link to the wiki proper. I'm thinking, we have enough discussion here, we may want to move it to a talk page or new page somewhere so it doesn't distract from the actual content. --Fritzophrenic 16:15, March 9, 2010 (UTC)

I put the above category in Category:VimTip so that it can be easily seen on the main page (in the category tree in the right-hand column). This parent category is technically incorrect because "Lists of scripts" is not a Vim Tip, but I'm prepared to live with that.

I created Script:List of all scripts as an experiment to see how it looks. My point about that list is that by showing a brief description, a user can quickly scan the list to find scripts that may be of interest (and can search the text). The Category:Lists of scripts is a more up to date equivalent, but it can only show a script number which is hopeless for someone who is browsing. If anyone wants to try putting each script in a category, or organising them in some other way, please go ahead. JohnBeckett 03:48, March 14, 2010 (UTC)